


down if you're down

by regionals



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Anxiety Disorder, Drabble, Emotional support animal, Falling In Love, M/M, Oneshot, Trench Era, also in this au tylers not married and josh isnt in a relationship w doobles, low key just wanted to get this out of my wips folder bc its been there for a few months, so theres no cheating going on lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-16 22:38:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16504106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/regionals/pseuds/regionals
Summary: If anything, Tyler thinks, Josh is his dumb ass, and he's glad to have him.





	down if you're down

Tyler always wakes up before Josh does. That's just how it is. If they share the same bed, Tyler almost always wakes up at least half an hour before Josh does, and on this morning, Tyler's not complaining about it. Last night was a hotel night, except there was some sort of fuck up with their rooms, meaning not only did they have to share a room--they had to share a _bed_.

Tyler and Josh aren't the type to pitch a fit over a snafu like that. In fact, they looked at it as a positive. Sharing a room and a _bed_ meant _sleepover._ They stayed up later than they should have watching a movie and hanging out before falling asleep, and when Tyler wakes up, something in him shifts, and it hits him that, _oh,_ he loves Josh, in a more than friends way. It's not a massive revelation, really, but it's enough to make him feel something.

Josh is on his back with his head tilted back, snoring with his mouth open, and Jim is on his side facing away from Josh, with his head on the man's arm, and the image before him makes Tyler's heart beat a little faster. There's light filtering in through the blinds, golden, kind of like honey, and it makes Josh look like a god. A god that sleeps like a dumb ass with his mouth open. If anything, Tyler thinks, Josh is _his_ dumb ass, and he's glad to have him. He also may or may not take a sneaky picture of the man and his dog.

*

Tyler is to his wit's end with this journalist. He's always the first to lose his cool whenever they have to deal with a shitty interviewer, and he's the first to start fucking with them, but Josh always remains polite and understanding and Tyler doesn't get _why._ It's beyond him how Josh manages to not turn into an asshole when it comes to nosy journalists who wouldn't know professionalism if it hit them like a brick.

As Josh talks and patiently answers questions while Tyler taps out, only giving a vague, "Mhm," here and there to at least sort of try pretending he gives a shit, he realizes that Josh is just _like that._ Tyler already knew that Josh is just _like that,_ because he's known the man for the better part of a decade now, but that fact just kind of knocks him upside the head while he sits there wondering how the man has the patience of a saint.

He admires that. He admires that Josh is just so patient and _nice_ and he doesn't know how he keeps a straight face when really all he wants to do is squish his own cheeks and declare his undying love for his best friend.

*

Tyler knows he's selfish for it, or he at least feels like it, when he feels his heart swelling with love for Josh while his friend is in the midst of an anxiety attack. He doesn't have them very often anymore, maybe once or twice a month, but when they do happen and when Tyler's able to, he's more than happy to cuddle with Josh until he's calm, and now really isn't the time for Tyler to be realizing he's head over dick for his best friend, but Josh is a heavy and warm weight on top of him and Tyler kind of doesn't ever want to let go of him.

They're on the bus right now and Josh is covered in a blanket while Tyler holds him, and while Jim nudges at his hand trying to get Josh to pet him. Josh tries petting him, but his hands are shaking too much and he winds up just holding his arm against his chest. Tyler runs his hand over Josh's head and Jim reaches up with a paw to try and get Josh to hold it for him.

Josh sputters out an incredulous laugh at his dog, even if the little dude does this all the time, before indulging him and holding onto his paw.

Tyler holds him just a little tighter and prays he can't hear the way his heart is pitter-pattering in his chest.

*****

Tyler's positive that there's going to be pictures and videos of it all over the internet within the next few hours, but he doesn't give a shit. They're in between songs right now, and Josh is standing on his platform in the crowd, and Tyler's openly _gawking_ at him. His mouth is open as he stares at one of the screens near him, and he only looks away when a camera focuses on him, and he gets an eyeful of how _embarrassing_ he's being.

He's right, of course. He's on his phone in his dressing room as he's picking at a plate of sushi with chop sticks after the show, and there's plenty of pictures of him staring at Josh and his stupid perfect body with all of his cute freckles and his sweat and his muscles which flow and ripple so smoothly under his pale skin up on one of the screens, and there's videos of him realizing what he'd been doing.

He's not surprised when Josh teases him about it the next morning while they're getting coffee (or coffee and an energy drink) at a Starbucks in a different city.

*****

It's late at night and they're sitting on the floor in Tyler's hotel room, Josh nervously twirling his fingers in the fur on Jim's back as he rambles about the whole Milli Vanilli controversy, which, for some reason, is something he's wildly knowledgeable about.

Tyler's impressed. Everything Josh does impresses him, and when Josh hits a lull in his anxious rambling, Tyler finds himself quietly admitting, "I love you."

He's thought about this moment for years now, thought about what it'd be like when he finally said those words to Josh, and he always thought he'd be full of nerves and ready to throw up, but he just feels so comfortable and relaxed.

Sure, he feels butterflies in his stomach when Josh looks up at him, and mumbles out a, "What did you just say?" to him.

Tyler considers backtracking, but ultimately decides against it. "I said that I love you."

Josh nods, and his hand moves up to Jim's head, which is on his thigh. He scratches behind his dog's jaw and it takes him a few minutes to say, "Me too. I love you too."


End file.
